Stem Cell Treatment For Blindness

There is a wide range of diseases and conditions that can affect our eyes causing visual impairment and often blindness.

Stem cell treatment for blindness.

Stem cell treatments replenish the supply of retinal pigment epithelial rpe cells that bring nutrients to the retina. Eye disease stem cell treatment. Read the news story the study is a major milestone for the london project to cure blindness a partnership between professor pete coffey from university college london and professor lyndon da cruz a retinal surgeon at moorfields eye hospital nhs foundation trust. With modern medical approaches there is now stem cell therapy with the potential to restore and protect vision.

Pete coffey is a professor at university college london explained that the improvement of vision is measured by way of lines on a reading chart this chart proved that the sight in the patients had improved dramatically. Injecting treatment in to a blind eye carries low risks as eyes are encapsulated and wayward cells likely would not travel to other parts of the body. This stem cell therapy was developed by experts from the university college london collaborating with the moorfields eye hospital working on the london project to cure blindness. Implantation of a specially engineered patch of retinal pigment epithelium rpe cells derived from stem cells has restored vision in the subjects both of whom are affected by wet age related macular degeneration amd.

In march 2018 the results of a ground breaking clinical study which described the use of a new stem cell based treatment for wet amd were published. Breakthroughs in stem cell therapy may make it possible for those who are blind to see again according to research stem cells taken from the eyes of non living donors can be used to cure blindness as published in stem cells translational medicine. Researchers hope the new procedure will also help in the future to treat dry amd and similar diseases of the retina. New york three women were left nearly or totally blind by a vision treatment at a stem cell clinic in what doctors call a dramatic illustration of how risky such clinics can be.

Stem cells can act as a source of new healthy specialized cells and may provide a way to replace damaged cells in the eye. Blindness caused by disorders such as retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration are considered to be good candidates for stem cell therapies.